Inside the Vault: Destruction of the King George III Statue in 1776

How did New Yorkers react to the Declaration of Independence?

Learn more about the destruction of the King George statue and the reception of the Declaration of Independence in New York City with Dr. Benjamin Carp of the CUNY Graduate Center. We will be examining letters and images related to the toppling of the statue of King George III on July 9, 1776.

View slides from the presentation here.

FEATURED DOCUMENTS

• La Destruction de la Statue Royale a Nouvelle Yorck, ca. 1776
• Gold Selleck Silliman to his son, July 27, 1776
• William Whipple to John Langdon, July 16, 1776

USE THE TIMESTAMPS BELOW TO JUMP TO THE TOPIC YOU WANT TO VIEW

0:22–4:29: Today’s documents
4:30–9:59: Why was there a statue of King George in New York?
10:00–15:29: New Yorker’s perceptions of the statue
15:30–19:59: Revolutionary divisions in New York City
20:00–23:19: A rise in attacks on the king’s image
23:20–26:44: Destruction of the King George statue
26:45–29:29: Historical implications of toppling statues
29:30–33:29: Gilder Lehrman Collection documents
33:30–40:44: Approaching inaccuracies in primary sources
40:45–44:59: Accounts of statue destruction in letters
45:00–54:30: Q&A